Cruel to be Kind
by TwoDaysTooLate
Summary: Sooo the way my mind deals with writers block is to come up with dozens of ideas that do not relate at all to the story I'm presently working on. This is the result of that.


**When I was little I ****_hated_**** Betty Quinlin. Hated her. I know a lot of fans did and still do feel this way and a lot of people (myself included) make her the villain in a lot of stories. SHe's an easy target: we love Cindy and was a decent plot device to shake things up. In recent years though, I re-watched episodes with her in them and noticed that she's really not so terrible (Don't stop reading, I'm making a point here!). It's really not her fault that Jimmy is crazy obsessed with her; I mean while she hasn't really discouraged it, she's never encouraged the crush (save for the two times she's kissed him. That throws a bit of a wrench into things). The way I see it, she's just trying to be a polite person towards the boy who likes her. She's by no means my favorite character(J/C all the way y'all), but I'll no longer yell "She's a with I tells yah! Burn her! Burn her!" when I see her on TV. It's hard when someone you don't really care for acts like a lovesick puppy around you, so here's a little something about how she might feel about this.**

**Enjoy ^_^**

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Betty left her seventh period math class right as the bell rang. She hurried down the hallway to her locker in a desperate attempt to avoid-

"Hey Betty!" the familiar voice rang through the hallway. She winced then turned around, tucking a piece of her dark hair behind an ear.

"Oh, hi Jimmy," everyday for the last two weeks he had caught her after school. Normally she could get to her locker and be on her way home before he tried to engage her in conversation. He must have run down the hallway today.

"How would you like to go the Candy Bar for a chocolate shake?"

She sighed. His crush on her was cute when they were eleven, but two years later it was just kind of annoying. With smile meant to hide her irritation she said, "It's very nice of you to invite me Jimmy, but…I just don't think that's a good idea".

His face fell. "What do you mean?"

She had been deliberating when would be the best time to talk to him about this… Apparently the time was now.

"Look, I know that you like me, and I think that's sweet. You're a very nice guy and all…but we," she gestured from him to her, "are not a good idea."

"What?"

"Us. You and me. We would not make a good couple. I know that's why you want so desperately for me to go out with you, but it's not going to happen."

She expected him to protest or go off on a tangent about how he didn't _like her_ like her or something; however, he just stood there looking at her.

She stopped putting books in her locker and turned back to him. "Jimmy you and I have nothing in common and I really doubt we know enough about each other to have a real conversation. Now I need to leave, I'm going to be late for my tennis lesson."

He smiled dreamily at her, "You play tennis?"

"See, this is exactly what I'm talking about. Goodbye Jimmy, I'll see you around," she closed her locker door and headed for the school's exit. Glancing casually over her shoulder, she noticed that Neutron had left. _Thank goodness. I don't know what I would do if he followed me or made a scene or something. _ She reached a corner and stopped just short of it. "You can come out Cindy; I know you're hiding there."

"I'm not hiding! I mean- how did you know I was there?" the blond girl stepped into the hallway. She was less than an inch shorter than Betty now, her long blond hair still in a ponytail.

"Where Neutron is you're usually close by." Cindy glared at her, but Betty was used to that. "Did you hear all of that?"

"Enough to get the gist. Don't you think you were a little harsh?"

"**That** would be the pot calling the kettle black, don'tcha think? Walk with me," the two headed down the hallway that led to the pick-up lot. "Neutron still hadn't gotten the memo that I don't like him, and it's better he hear it from me now then when he sees me at the Halloween dance with Kyle Johnson next week. You have to be cruel to be kind sometimes."

"And you think he'll stop worshipping you now?"

Betty smiled to herself. No matter how much she protested, Cindy still had a thing for neutron. It was unlikely she would act on it anytime soon though. _I wish she would. Maybe with someone else to dote on he'd leave me be._ It was hard deciding which eighth grade boy she liked the best when there was a pesky little shadow following her about. True, Neutron was nice and useful if you needed help with your homework (he usually ended up doing all of it anyways), but she didn't want to date him. She wasn't even sure_ why_ he liked her so much. Sure she was pretty (she'd been told that often enough to know it was true) and she her grades were decent enough, but someone like Jimmy Neutron didn't like someone just because they were charming and talented. They'd never really done anything together except for that one school play and that time one of his inventions went haywire. She had no interest in science fairs or math competitions, and she doubted he'd like community theatre or tennis. His friends were weird and hers still knew him as the boy who'd gotten their parents abducted. In fact, most of the time she forgot about him until he came around. He wasn't the most athletic kid around, or the most popular. She was certain that if they actually did go out on a date, he would be bored in less than an hour (and she'd be going out of her mind in ten minutes flat). But she didn't dare do that for fear of incurring the wrath of Cindy (and her social life really didn't need the black mark of having dated someone so…Neutron-y). She truly did hope he would stop chasing her after this. He was nice, but her other options boy-wise were much nicer.

"Who knows, Cindy?" She looked over at the apprehensive expression on the other girl's face. They weren't exactly chummy, but their relationship _had_ gotten better over the years. Once Cindy was reassured that Betty didn't return Neutron's feeling she stopped despising her. Sometimes (like now) they could even have a civil conversation. "Are we still cool?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Does he still have that creepy box of my pictures in his lab?"

"Oh no, he had to burn them all. I said if I found any more I would make him eat them".

Betty laughed. She hoped one day she and Cindy would be able to call each other friends. She wasn't sure what _they_ had in common, besides Neutron, but she'd never have to hide from Cindy in a janitor's closet.

_Hopefully._

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**I always found it funny that Betty and Cindy's looks were kind of opposites. Cindy has long blond hair and wears a green shirt and pink shoes while Betty has short brown hair, a pink dress, and green shoes. There are some very clever designers at Viacom. Just a thought.**


End file.
